Tunisia in 2012

Area:

163,610 sq km (63,170 sq mi)

Population

(2012 est.): 10,786,000

Capital:

Tunis

Head of state:

President Moncef Marzouki

Head of government:

Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali

Female police officers gather in Tunis, Tun., on Aug. 13, 2012, as part of national demonstrations against constitutional changes being proposed by the Islamic-led government, which many people believed would damage women’s legal status in Tunisia.Hassene Dridi/APTunisia began 2012 with a new president, Moncef Marzouki, a former human rights activist and leader of the left-wing Congress for the Republic (CPR). His election by the Constituent Assembly in December 2011 was followed by the installation of a three-party coalition cabinet formed by Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali’s Nahdah Party, the CPR, and Mustafa Ben Jafaar’s centrist Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties. This interim government was expected to remain in place until a permanent constitution could be written and new legislative elections could be held in mid-2013.

The new government faced a restive domestic political scene as Tunisia’s Salafist movements became more vocal. Despite President Marzouki’s call in January for a moratorium on political demonstrations and strikes, attempts by the new government to impose public order resulted in a protest in central Tunis on April 19. Salafists staged a series of increasingly violent demonstrations, culminating in the destruction of displays in an art exhibition at La Marsa on June 10. On September 14 violent demonstrations over a video mocking Islam resulted in damage to the U.S. embassy in Tunis and led to the withdrawal of its staff.

Despite this, a new Salafist political party, the Islah Front, was legalized and was expected to take part in the elections due in 2013. Its legalization coincided with a call by the al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri for Tunisians to take over the state, by force if need be. Tunisia’s secular politicians increasingly feared that Salafist extremism might force the Nahdah Party toward greater Islamist conservatism, despite its promise not to insist on the inclusion of Islamic law in the new constitution. Women’s groups were concerned that Tunisia’s personal status laws might be amended to disadvantage women.

Disputes over economic policy resulted in the resignation in late July of the finance minister, Hussein Dimassi. Dimassi cited the recent firing of the central bank governor, Mustafa Kamel Nabli, and the government’s unchecked spending as his reasons for stepping down.

The Tunisian economy began to revive after its collapse in 2011, with an expected GDP growth rate of 2.7% in 2012, driven by a gradual improvement in tourism, which had fallen by 54.6% in 2011. Foreign companies pledged major investment; the Italian energy company ENI promised $500 million over three years. Foreign reserves, however, declined by 27% to $6.8 billion, with inflation running at 5.7% in September and unemployment at 17% or above. Labour unrest continued, particularly in the south, with strikes in July in the mining centre of Gafsa.